Opinion
Opinion By: Jack Conway, Attorney General; James M. Herrick, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
This matter having been presented to the Attorney General in an open records appeal, and the Attorney General being sufficiently advised, we find that inmate Ruben Salinas' appeal of the Department of Corrections' denial on June 4, 2015, of Mr. Salinas' request dated May 31, 2015, for "Non-Hippa [ sic ], number of Hepatitis-C infected prisoners, or patients, at Eastern Correctional Complex, Roederer Correctional Complex, Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center (KCPC), from 2000 to 2005," is time-barred. KRS 197.025(3) provides:
KRS 61.880 to the contrary notwithstanding, all persons confined in a penal facility shall challenge any denial of an open record with the Attorney General by mailing or otherwise sending the appropriate documents to the Attorney General within twenty (20) days of the denial pursuant to the procedures set out in KRS 61.880(2) before an appeal can be filed in a Circuit Court.
Mr. Salinas' request was denied on June 4, 2015. His appeal of this denial was dated June 29, 2015.
In addition, the Department points out that Mr. Salinas had made a previous request dated April 30, 2015, covering the same subject matter, to which the Department responded on May 11, 2014. Therefore, the Department states that any appeal should have been filed within twenty (20) days of May 11, 2014. This argument is well taken. See 14-ORD-054 (second request for same record does not revive expired appeal rights).
Because he is a person confined in a penal facility, and because he failed to perfect an appeal from the Department's denial within twenty days, Mr. Salinas' appeal is untimely and we are foreclosed from rendering a decision on the issues raised. We find that 02-ORD-54, a copy of which is attached hereto and incorporated by reference, is controlling. See also 02-ORD-110; 03-ORD-007; 04-ORD-074.
A party aggrieved by this decision may appeal it by initiating action in the appropriate circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.880(5) and KRS 61.882. Pursuant to KRS 61.880(3), the Attorney General should be notified of any action in circuit court, but should not be named as a party in that action or in any subsequent proceeding.